Most medical malpractice claims litigated, but few go to trial: Study

Most medical malpractice claims lead to litigation, but a majority of these are dismissed, and more than three-quarters of the relatively few against specialists that lead to a trial verdict are resolved in the physician’s favor, says a new study.

The study, whose lead researcher was Dr. Anupam B. Jena of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, appears in the Chicago-based American Medical Assn.’s current issue of Archives in Internal Medicine.

The study examined all claims closed between 2002 and 2005 that involved some defense costs. Among all claims, 55.2% resulted in litigation, ranging from 46.7% for claims against anesthesiologists to 62.6% for claims against obstetricians and gynecologists.

Most medical malpractice claims litigated, but few go to trial: Study